The present invention relates to light-weight metal furniture products of the type which are employed as outside furniture around swimming pools or on patios, but which also are sufficiently rugged, and suitably attractive in appearance for use as inside furniture.
The present invention is concerned with a chaise lounge which is uniquely foldable to a more compact shape for purposes of facilitating its storage when not in use. In the past, various garden furniture and other collapsible furniture products have been proposed, as exemplified in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.
36,441 PA1 161,234 PA1 851,724 PA1 1,185,181 PA1 2,990,007 PA1 3,491,705 PA1 4,168,669 PA1 4,234,226
However, the chaise lounge which will presently be described is of a different, improved character, and intended for a different market. In the past, pool and patio furniture has not generally been foldable, because foldability was deemed inconsistent with the high quality, rigid construction desired in high grade furniture for the indicated use. In the mind of the purchasing public, foldability has tended to be equated with chaise lounges of very low price, and a construction which did not afford a very long life.
One of the first attempts to design a collapsible chaise lounge which had a high quality appearance and was rigid in construction is exemplified in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,234,226, wherein the seat piece was separable from the frame, and the seat piece and frame components were then separately foldable for storage purposes. The present non-separable design is completely different, as will become apparent, and provides a product which is storable in folded condition, in fact, without appearing to be.